Just wanted to remind my fellow Finns about the upcoming two concerts of Clannad that will take place in 2012, the first being in Helsinki's new Music House (April 2nd 2012 9PM Finnish time), and the second being in Logomo in Turku (April 3rd 2012 8PM Finnish time). At least the Helsinki tickets are selling fast at the moment, so if you want to have a moment of your lifetime (pun intended!), please act fast! The tickets are being sold via Lippupalvelu and Menolippu at least.

Recently bought 2 tickets and was looking forward to go but now find my boss needs us to travel outside Finland. >>So I have 2 good tickets that I need to sell to someone. I ask nothing more then I did pay for it (2x55), so if someone is interested to help out, I would be very pleased. Rivi (row)4, Paikka (seat) 1114, (please drop me a Private Message) to connect. Regards, Hanno

I'd just like to let you know that I made a slight edit to your post to remove your email address, and replaced it with the text "(please drop me a Private Message)".

The reason for this is that your email address will get harvested by 'spambots' - programs that scour the internet looking for email addresses to hit with their junk. Hopefully I've got to you in time. I've also sent you a PM explaing things further.

Please let me know if this is OK.

If you don't know what eschatology is then don't worry; it's not the end of the world.Purveyor of fine sarcasm since 1966.

I think it's going to be a huge return to top form for Clannad in 2012 ! I have 4 front row seats for Moya's next Netherland's tour but i certainly would fly to any close cities for some extra Clannad gigs. They will be in Finland early April maybe they can try the Netherlands too !

i have seen close to 25 Moya gigs in 2 years and a half...but no Clannad. this could be the year.

At long last I'm back from Helsinki, sorry it took a while until I was able to gather my thoughts again but I know you've been waiting for my story! So, here is my travelogue:

Apr 2 2012: Up around 5AM, a quick breakfast and making sure that everything is packed. A 30-minute taxi ride to the airport, the formalities done both for myself and for my Mum who was travelling with me, and off to air around 8.30. About 60 minutes later a safe landing at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, fetching our big luggage, and a short bus ride from the airport to the Helsinki City Railway Station. After a short walk we checked in to our hotel, and with all the luggage safely in our room, we then went to explore the city centre in order to do some shopping and to have something to eat. Then, back to hotel in order to get ready for the BIG EVENING!

As the concert venue (the newly opened Helsinki Music Centre) was quite close to our hotel, we first planned to go there by foot, but as the weather was not so pleasant with wet sleet coming down together with quite a strong wind, we decided to go there by taxi instead. Just did not want to soak my Irish dress!! The doors were opened to the audience at 8PM, and soon after that Clannad's tour manager (at least I think the man was their tour manager, in case I'm incorrect feel free to correct me!) started to sell the official merchandise in the foyer. Obviously I could not resist myself, and bought no less than FOUR t-shirts, a CD (Duggan twins, under the title "Rubicon") and a pre-signed poster (limited edition) for myself. The salesman must have been thinking that there's one really crazy fan buying all these things (15 euros each), and he even jokingly apologised that he could not give me any "crazy fan discount"! Well, obviously it didn't really matter, as these are usually those "once-or-twice-in-a-lifetime" things anyway...

Soon it was then time to go into the concert hall itself, so, some more photos taken by Mum (with my camera), and then off we went! The concert started around 9AM, and went on for a good 2 hours non-stop! The main concert hall was at least 2/3 full (full capacity 1704 seats), so the mood was more than wonderful all the time. This time, also Moya's brother Pól rejoined the others (Moya, Ciarán and the Duggan twins), he wasn't in Helsinki in 2008 when I saw Clannad last time, so it was a complete band on stage now! Added with two extra musicians of course (Ian Parker on keys and vocals & Liam Bradley on drum & vocals). The setlist consisted of mainly the older folk material, but Clannad also performed some of their newer pieces such as the Robin Of Sherwood medley, The Last Of The Mohicans theme song, and so on. And of course they did the same singalong trick than in the previous Helsinki visit, it was a bit lame response first but luckily I did not need to embarrass myself and be the only singer in the audience!! The applause were given after each piece, and they just got louder and louder towards the end. Oh, and after just the first three tones of "Robin The Hooded Man" (Robin Of Sherwood Medley), the audience recognised the tune and started to cheer very loudly! After two encores (Down By The Salley Gardens & Níl Se'n Lá), the audience gave a standing ovation to the band, and, one of the Brennan brothers made a promise that they will be back in Finland very soon! Even that announcement was funny: "I have good news and bad news, good news is that Clannad will be back in Finland soon, but the bad news is that this concert is coming to the end now"! Hilarious!! It was quite a challenge for me to try to write down anything in such a darkness, so my set list might not be 100% accurate. Anyway, here it is:

After the concert the Brennans and the Duggans arranged a meet-and-greet session for the audience, but for my astonishment, only a fraction of the concert attenders actually stayed for that! I think most of the audience must have been first-timers... But, naturally we stayed and, while standing in the queue, listened to other people's discussion with the band, and Mum kept the camera rolling. Eventually it was our turn, and, although Moya apologised for not remembering my name right away, she recognised us anyway. My dress must have been a real "shocker" for her, as her first words were something along "Oh my, look at you"! She absolutely was thrilled to see me again, and when I asked her if my dress was "Irish enough", she smiled and said "of course it is, well done Mum for making it"! Her astonishment even increased as I told her that there were proper patterns used only for the white undershirt (léine)! I told her why the dress was made (aka my own Celtic performances), and, as the "boys" heard that I also play the tinwhistles, they too were amazed! This time I remembered to thank them in Irish Gaelic, and I even got a Gaelic reply from one of the "boys", followed by a question about how much I can speak the language and some encouragement of keeping it (plus my tinwhistle playing) up. The group signed my CD booklet, Moya gave me again a "ribcrusher hug", and apologised that she has not been online on her forum recently. Mum kept the camera rolling all the time during all this, but, as there were still some people queueing behind me, Moya then asked if it was okay for me to wait for some time for a proper group photo with the boys as well. Then, all of a sudden, Clannad's tour manager, who had finished packing all the remaining fan merchandise, came to me, shook my hand, and said that HE TOO would like to take a group photo of us with HIS camera! Obviously this has something to do with my enthusiasm and/or my dress...! Some more photos, and then it was time to go back to the hotel. It was already near midnight when I finally fell asleep, but, it was DEFINITELY worth for staying awake for so long!

Tuesday (April 3) was then a relaxing day for us, after the breakfast we mainly strolled along the streets in the city centre, did some more shopping, and in the afternoon took the bus to the airport followed by a late afternoon flight back home. I have yet to watch the photos Mum took as some of them require some "retouching", but I will try to put some of the best shots to my Flickr account and put a link once that is done.

Now then I have been scouring the web for other concert stories and reviews, but sadly, the official review in a well-known newspaper was downright unfair and disgusting. The reviewer blamed the band of not developing their style/sound world towards modern, and barking that those "relics" only give a saccharine, boring and "sickeningly beautiful" feeling. I seriously hope this "review" would not change Clannad's mind for returning to perform in Finland in the future, as such hard criticism really is offending towards the band (it was not even constructive!), as if it was the group's fault to be unwilling to change. I mean, no-one should change their soundworld because of some silly critics told them to do so!! Well, that much cheering and applause from the audience can't be wrong, they know what they want to hear and they show it!

In case you read this Moya, please do not let any of these unfair "critics" offend you, they really don't know what they are writing about (please listen to your audience more than critics)!! Never mind of not remembering my name right away, we are all human beings anyway! Also, please don't feel so upset about not having enough time for the forum, it has been quiet here anyway so you have barely missed anything! From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of my Mum, a heartfelt thank you for the entire band for delivering such a memorable concert for us Finns, and for the very valuable time you gave to your fans afterwards, despite of having another concert in Turku the day after. Oh, and I forgot to add that the church performances where I have been wearing this Celtic dress have all been Celtic-themed, I also play my other instruments (flute, recorders) in church every now and then (and other music as well, not just Irish/Celtic!), but for three years in a row now, our parish has been unofficially taking part to the annual Oulu Irish Music Festival by arranging a Celtic Mass/Vesper and that is the reason why I and my Mum decided to make the outfit for me, just to enhance the Celtic "spirit" during those Celtic-themed gigs.